Pedagogy is the art of education, focusing on the teaching of the young and their fostering into adulthood. It is derived from the Greek word 'paidagogia' which means 'child' (paidos) and 'lead' (ago) - so 'to lead the child'. In antiquity, societies such as the Socratic Circles applied the philosophies and ideas of Socrates in a pedagogical way, encouraging the enlightenment of youth through discussion and discourse, as opposed to learning as fait accompli. Greek society also practiced 'paideia', which was designed to mould children into ideal members of the polis - the 'beautiful and good' - and nurture the aristocratic class. Pedagogy and paideai (and also the Greek concept of pederasty) all feed into the classical Greek notions of beauty and focus on aesthetics.
